The Day That Changed It All
by Cameo45
Summary: There's these moments in everyone's lives that define what happens next. There's one such moment that remembered clearly for the three people involved. Note: Finn is an all out jerk instead of just his usual sneaky jerkiness.


Feel free to thank Night Fire Goddess for Betaing this. Without her, it might have just sat on my computer.

The Day that Changed It All

There are these moments in everyone's lives that define what happens next. Like if you go right, you're miserable for years only to find true love and fulfill all your dreams. But if you go left, you're never miserable, but you just exist never really happy either. Sometimes you know when you've come to such a crossroads, and sometimes you only realize it looking back. Too often in high school, it's only in the looking back that they're realized. Such is the way it occurred that December day for Finn.

He was still so angry at Rachel. For going to Puck. For kissing Puck. Even for just trying to be Puck's friend, for believing he might still be a good person. He was so angry and it was consuming him like it had with Quinn, so he made a plan to release the anger.

Now, everyone knew that Finn and Rachel would be together again, sooner rather than later they imagined. Glee Club was betting on who would make the first move (most pegged Rachel) and how soon (all were guessing before Christmas break). They were all enjoying having some time apart from the happy couple and they couldn't help but admit to liking Rachel a little more timid and tame. Most of them anyway, Puck liked the wildcat. And Tina had known Rachel long enough to worry that this was the calm before the storm-so she hoped they would reunite before Berry blew.

Sam, not completely familiar with the long and sordid tale which had too many intersecting lines to keep track of, kept wondering when someone was going to check on the girl. Couldn't anyone see her side? Besides having been lied to it seemed like Finn would know how much it could hurt, would understand that at this point it was the lie more than the action that injured. He'd been willing to stand up for Kurt and he kind of felt bad for not saying something in her defense at Sectionals (even if just to agree with Puckerman). Truth was Santana scared him, and he didn't want to upset Quinn after finally getting her to go out with him. . .so he kept silent. But he kept a watch over the miserable girl.

None of which mattered when Finn finally made a choice of retaliation. Due to planning, just about all of Glee (except Puck and Sam) along with most of the school saw it happen. Later Santana (and Rachel) would be glad of Puck's absence because even fear of juvie wouldn't have stopped that fight. And Quinn was happy for Sam's absence so he wouldn't be torn on whether to act or not because of her (he would have been compelled to act, she knows). In the end, Tina was barely able to restrain Mike-her reasons were more because with what Finn said it would merely hurt Rachel's reputation more, not out of some deep liking for Finn. Artie was too shocked to move and Brittany had one hand over his mouth and the other over Santana's certain anything her best friend said would only make things worse. Quinn was caught between helping to restrain Santana and restraining herself. Mercedes was texting Kurt and sending him the video.

In the end, what shocked them even more was Rachel. She allowed it, but some light in her eyes dimmed and went out. They all heard loud and clear her, "I won't forgive you for this, not ever," even though she spoke no words merely slapping Finn and walking away. The girl who had loved Finn through everything, had clearly fallen out of love before their eyes.

All it had taken was a slushie (and a comment about her having relationships with all the guys in glee, and no wonder the girls hated her).

Regretfully, it took Mercedes' ringing phone to shock them out of their stupor, and by then Rachel was gone and so was Finn (with Karofsky and Azimio clapping him on the back). "Is she okay? Is she crying? Let me talk to her," they heard Kurt's concerned voice from the phone.

It was Quinn who finally responded regret clear in her tone, "We didn't follow her, Kurt. But one's thing's for sure, she stopped loving him today."

"Are you sure?" he asked shocked. He'd been sure nothing could separate the Diva from his brother permanently.

"Yes," it was Santana who spoke next. "He broke her for the last time. I think...I think she's done putting up with it. From all of us, really."

"Rachel's going to get hypothermia," Brittany suddenly exclaimed. When the whole group looked at her puzzled, she added, "she turned blue, so she's going to get hypothermia."

"Has anyone gone after her yet," Kurt questioned, correctly assuming the slushy had been blue, not Rachel herself.

"No," Tina spoke then questioned, "who goes?"

It was then Puck rounded the corner. "Hey," he spoke and began to walk on, then noticing them all just standing there, "what's going on?" To which they all (except Brittany) dropped their eyes, knowing that the badass had developed a soft spot for the diva.

"Nothing, Puck," Mike spoke nervously.

"Santana," he questioned. And she forced herself to look up. Right before she gave into his inquiring gaze, Brittany spoke.

"Rachel never kissed me."

"Okay, Brit," Puck said, breaking his gaze on Santana, to look at the blonde.

"No, see Finn said that we tolerated Rachel cause she gave the members favors with her 'no gag reflex' right after he slushied her, but that's not true cause she never kissed me. And I have the record. San has she kissed you?"

They all grimaced at Brittany's revelation and waited for Puck to explode. "No, B," Santana gently told the clueless girl.

"Artie?"

"No, I've never kissed Rachel."

"Has anyone here except Puck?" she finally questioned. And they all shook their heads still warily eyeing Puck.

"Sam!" she greeted the boy who was hurrying to lunch, "Have you kissed Rachel?"

"Uh. .no?" he said thrown off guard.

"Where are they?" Puck finally growled, his breathing only moderately controlled.

"Rachel's alone," Kurt squawked from the phone, "Someone should go to her. She's probably in the bathroom."

"She went that way," Tina directed and they all nodded, hoping to stall him from revenge _and_ get him to do the comforting.

"Hudson?" he growled.

"Isn't something you can take care of at school, Puck. Look, come over after school and I'll let you in and there will be no witnesses and I'll swear you weren't there."

"I'm coming," Mike said and Artie nodded.

"What's going on? Am I going?" Sam whispered to Quinn. She nodded.

"Guess I'm coming too," Sam concluded.

"Great, I'll just tell Finn it's a glee guy's get-together and we can go from there," Kurt planned.

"No," Santana spat.

"What?" several people questioned.  
"San, I know we've been mean to her before, but even you have to admit that was too far," Quinn tried to appeal to the other girl's logic and reasoning.

"Which is why I'm not letting the boys go alone," Santana sneered, surprising them all that she was negating the boys alone having a role, not the revenge itself. "They won't be as personal about the damage they inflict."

"I'm in," Mercedes agreed.

"Deal, Puck?" Kurt questioned the silent boy. They all looked up and found him missing. "Puck?"

"He's gone Kurt," Mercedes spoke.

"He left after Kurt mentioned the get together, " a new voice spoke.

The boy was shocked to find himself immediately pressed into the lockers, with an arm blocking his windpipe."None of this on your blog, JewFro. You don't even want to know all the ways to torture you I'll think up if it is," Santana threatened. The frightened boy easily agreed, not really having wanted to hurt Rachel anyway.

When she'd let him go, and he had only their glares binding him, he spoke, "I thought perhaps I could film parts of your revenge. Or write something about that, omitting whichever names you deemed appropriate of course," he hurried to add.

"We'll think about it and be in touch," Quinn acquiesced dismissing the boy.

"Okay, seriously what happened?" Sam asked.

Mercedes simply handed him her phone. They all watched as he gasped. When the video was over he spoke, "How soon are we going after Hudson again?"

Puck had been unable to find Rachel, and other than brief glimpses of her in class, no one saw her until Glee.

No one approached her then because of the very clear "Stay away" that she was projecting. Right now, not even their support was encouraged. She merely wanted to be left alone and would achieve that even if it meant lashing out.

Thus, they were all giving her her space when Finn walked in. Now no one had ever thought he was a genius, but his next move proved just how much of an idiot he was. He sat by the firestorm that was Rachel Berry and spoke, "I forgive you now, Rachel. We should go out tonight," and if that wasn't bad enough he had the audacity to take her hand.

By the end of her speech. . .rant. . .total degradation of everything he was, the boy was cowering in his seat just barely withholding his tears. When she told him to move out of her presence, no one had ever seen the gangly boy move so quickly or fearfully.

He ended up in a corner by himself as everyone made it clear that they would not be offering shelter. (For two reasons really: they still thought he was a jerk, and they just realized they'd taken their lives in their hands every time they'd gone against the girl.) Later, Kurt not getting the full experience from Mercedes' video, would ask who was scarier- Santana or Rachel. Everyone agreed it was no contest-the diva was unmatched.

Puck would find himself unable to resist pursuing her, despite the new-found respect they all had for the pint-sized star. And Rachel, was open to love, but she was done being walked on. That worked out just fine for Puck, who treated the one girl who believed in him like a treasure. Years later, when asked about which slushy she remembered the most, it was always Finn's.

But she learned to be grateful for it. Noah was a much better boyfriend than Finn had ever been, and he relieved her insecurities instead of playing into them. She was proud to make Rachel Puckerman a household name, whereas she'd never intended to be Rachel Hudson (she was keeping her name she informed him many times). Of all the slushies he'd thrown and even the one he'd given her, Finn's was one of the one's Puck remembered the most, though he hadn't been there to personally see it. The other was the one he'd fed her as she was in labor with their son (her memory of that one is understandably blurred by pain).

For Finn, it was a slushy he would always regret and yet couldn't completely. It had lost him Rachel, but even more it had lost him Glee Club. They no longer looked to him to save them. They no longer tolerated him having solos. He was a warm body not their friend, and he finally understood, how they'd treated Rachel. He finally understood what he as her boyfriend had endorsed and participated in-he was the outsider now. He regained his popularity, but lost his friends. But even more, it was a slushy that gave Puck of all people an opportunity to show him what love was. He never forgot the rants that he would and had zoned out on, Puck watching with an amused smirk before he would finally just pull the girl to him and kiss her. She'd always melted in a way he'd never felt or seen before. He watched from the sidelines and saw a love and a life that Rachel wouldn't have had with him. Their's would have been okay, but it wouldn't have been this epic love story that was filled with passion even at their 50 year anniversary (so much so that the couple being honored were missing for an hour at one point and the smiles they'd re-emerged with had been reminiscent of their 17 year old selves coming out of a janitor's closet or empty class room). He didn't have it in him to love that much, not her. He would have hated the spotlight that Puck gladly shared or merely allowed his wife to abide in, and thus he would have limited the star she became where Puck had fanned her flame. Finn knew he'd been much happier with his wife Sharon in Ohio then he ever could have been in New York. In the end, that slushy and what he'd said were the cruelest things he'd ever done, and yet years later he could only be thankful it happened.


End file.
